What to do with Mein Kampf?!

[Bannedcontent]

My late DF was a history buff and after he died we gave a lot of his books to charity but kept a few.

Among them was an English translation of Mein Kampf. It’s a first edition from 1939.

I held on to it as a historic artefact but would now like to move it on.

I can’t sell it on Amazon or eBay as it’s banned.

So the question is: do I bin it? (YABU)
Do I donate it to a library or something? (YANBU) Where?!

I donated books to my local university that were grateful to receive them.

Could you take it to your local library? They will probably know what to do with it.

It’s a first edition from 1939, it’s going to be worth a bit more than twenty quid.

The idea of selling it and donating the proceeds to charity is a good one though you’d have to possibly wait a while for the interested buyer to come along I imagine, and you’d probably not want to hang on it to for as long as that may take. And also, who would want profit from its sale? Not sure I would. Anyway, Biblio.Co.uk might be worth contacting, they have many copies - all different editions and dates - they may buy it from you or sell it on.

I would genuinely buy this from you (or donate to a charity on your behalf). I have always wanted to read it because I'm fascinated in how some can easily convince others to treat people the way they did. If it's a first edition I would keep it for historical value as I do collect books and would like to pick apart the mind set at that time.

Whatever you decide I definitely would not burn/bin it! It is a part of history no matter how chilling it was. We can't pretend these things didn't happen and looking back helps us to not make the same mistakes again. In theory!

I second auction house. Someone will want it...

I love history and would personally home it. Not as a collection of Nazi memorabilia or anything, but in context of books from around Europe and Asia from the 20th Century. I am passionate about learning from the past, in its fullness, as the only way to true lily move forward and I think we need to preserve history. Once we believe in individual bogey men or villains it’s so easy to distance ourselves, but when we tricky understand why or how things happened we can move away from the circumstances in a real way.

(Not asking for it, just saying why I’d home it)

I would sell and donate the money to a holocaust survivors charity.

Honestly, you are unlikely to find a museum or uni library that wants it unless there is something notable about this specific book. It's not that hard to get hold of even in old editions and there's no need to preserve this particular edition (again unless it's, I don't know, annotated by Oswald Mosely or something.) Mein Kampfs are in pretty plentiful supply - check out university holdings here discover.libraryhub.jisc.ac.uk/search?q=title%3A+mein+kampf+author%3A+Hitler
If you sell it, it will almost certainly end up with a Nazi sympathiser. We don't need nor can we preserve every artefact and this is almost certainly not as special or unique as you might think - plenty of fascists in Britain reading in in 1939

Don't sell it. I agree that most people who will buy it will be creeps.

Go to your local university and speak to their rare books librarian. There are universities in every county in England. The National Trust has plenty of items; that's not necessarily true for your local university.

I have a paperback German edition from 1936 that I found by chance in a charity shop years ago. Its title page states it was published "all rights reserved" by the central publishing house of the NSDAP (Nazi party) in Munich, 2,260,000 copies printed. What strikes me looking at it is what a mundane object it is. There's even a list of recommended further reading printed on the flysheet, with titles by Alfred Rosenberg etc. It's a reminder that these repellant ideas were printed, sold and read by people who considered them reasonable common sense at the time. Nazi supporters weren't some kind of human aberration, they were people like our friends and neighbours. I wouldn't know how to sell it, at least not responsibly or ethically, but if a historian or academic could use it I'd let them have it. You could try a history society such as the Historical Association for ideas who might be able to use yours. If you do sell it and want to donate, remember some charities especally Jewish ones won't want to receive profits from sale of Nazi objects, however well intentioned.

I would auction the item and donate the proceeds to charity. It is a piece of history - and as deplorable as that piece of history is it needs to be remembered so that people are challenged not to let it happen again.

Why would they be creeps?

Imperial war museum I am sure would be interested or war memorabilia auctions
I do not get anyone saying throw it away it is part of history

because there are massive numbers of creepy nazi fetishing collectors out there? Plus just actual fascists. The far right never went away

I've seen copies for sale in Waterstones. Last time in 2019.

Donate to a library/archive/museum. I personally wouldn't feel comfortable accepting money for it

In case you're interested, someone's virtually written the play of this (spoiler, there's no conclusion)

Von Ribbentrop's Watch
An impoverished Jewish businessman's devotion to his religion and family is tested when he discovers that a family heirloom is extremely valuable because of its Nazi associations. Could he morally save his business by selling it?

The plot is based on Laurence Marks’ own real-life experience. While staying in Hollywood on a writing assignment, he bought a second-hand watch from a jeweller on Melrose Place. Fifteen years later, Marks learned that the $200 Longines watch had once belonged to prominent Nazi, Joachim von Ribbentrop.

At auction, it could have fetched up to £50,000, but its provenance meant that it would have inevitably been sold to a Nazi sympathiser. Marks was left with a dilemma. How could a Jew profit from the sale of a Nazi artefact? When approached, Jewish charities declined to take any potential cash raised. The watch remains in a vault.

It might not be worth as much as a first edition from 1925, also it's not a rare item. Sell it to the pp upthread!

"There's no need to actively spread the repellent ideas by going out of your way to find a new owner for this copy."

The book will be bought by a historian or museum and preserved as an important part of history
Anyone who is anti Semitic will not need to read this.
I would argue that the quran (which I have read) is as repellant and has infinitely more influence world wide that Mein Ka mph ever will now.

What, as a tribute?

There are a shocking number of people who collect these things not as items of reverence and excited fascination.

I.e. creeps.

Why? It's not a religious document. The leaders of my shul would be pretty nonplused if I asked them what to do with a copy of Mein Kampf!

Sorry, that should read "not as items of historical inquiry but of reverence and excited fascination."

If the museum don't want it put it through the shredder and recycle it